I probably love scum villain the most out of all the mxtx novels specifically because it deals with gender the most out of all of them. The criticism of hypermasculinity is probably the strongest part, but I do also just enjoy maiden-hearted Bingmei and mommy Shen Qingqui. I just think they’re neat.
FOR REAL!!!! the theme of gender in svsss is so goddamn compelling. I love how much of the contrast between pidw and svsss is that the hypermasculine power fantasy doesn't allow for "feminine" things like vulnerability, and to be a Man™️ is to fuck and kill and conquer. This feels like a "well duh" moment but bingge is a clear example of the way toxic masculinity harms men. He might have achieved everything that's expected of him aa the masculine ideal, but he's unfulfilled and unhappy because at the end of the day, those hypermasculine notions don't actually help anyone
And then in contrast we have bingmei. I know I'm harping on it all the damn time, but bingmei's contrast with bingge is so important to me, especially when that biggest difference -- the thing that's indicative of his relative femininity -- are his emotions. Bingge is the stallion protagonist. He's not allowed to express emotions outside of what that role dictates: he is allowed to be cool and bloodthirsty and seductive, and not much else. Meanwhile it's not like bingmei isn't capable of of those same emotions. He's definitely cool and bloodthirsty on occasion. But he's also allowed a more full range of emotions outside the constraints of masculinity. He's allowed to be tender-hearted and sensitive, he cries to get what he wants and he cries to express genuine emotion, he's allowed to be vulnerable with shen qingqiu if no one else. He's allowed the full spectrum of emotion, both traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine, and it allows him to be more complete. No longer the shallow stallion protagonist, but a whole person. The person shen qingqiu fell in love with
And then don't get me started on mommy shizun, this post is already long enough and if I get into milfzun we'll be here all night
Let's have the milfzun essay!
Well, if you insist!
This isn't technically a milfzun essay, but rather part of a larger analysis I've been working on about gender and scum villain, but I've lovingly titled this subheading Gender and Whatever The Fuck These Two Have Going On, and it seems relevant
Scum Villain is a book that deals quite heavily with gender a theme, and a huge part of that is because Shen Qingqiu is someone who has Opinions About Gender. I think it's worth noting that as a setting, the world of Scum Villain (or, I guess, the world of PIDW that becomes SVSSS) doesn't have that much homophobia entrenched into the culture. There might be some stuff baked in there, but it is a less outright homophobic culture compared to, say, the setting of MDZS or -- more importantly -- the China of 2014 that Shen Yuan hails from. Sure, people disapprove of bingqiu's relationship for all number of reasons, but the fact that they're both men seems to be relatively low on everyone's priority list. Everyone, that is, aside from Shen Qingqiu. While the setting might not be homophobic, SQQ shows up and says "don't worry! I've brought my own!" and provides enough internalized homophobia to kill a horse
So, he spends a lot of the novel struggling with the idea of his and Binghe's relationship being a relationship between two men. His solution to this problem is "well, obviously one of us must be the woman!" His way of going about this solution? Uh... well... we'll get to that. First I'm going to cover the ways Shen Qingqiu seems to conceptualize womanhood, and the ways he tries to fit himself or Binghe into those molds. To be a Woman, in Shen Qingqiu's mind, is to fit into one of three categories: the Wife, the Maiden, and the Mother.
This is going under a read more because hoo boy, there is a lot to say
Despite both of Luo Binghe's mothers (adopted and biological) dying before the novel even begins, their absence haunts the narrative in a big way. And what is Shen Qingqiu good at if not adopting the narrative roles of dead people?
oh my god
